The mechanical properties of biological tissue are linked to its structure and function, and may be altered by disease. For example, cancerous tissue is usually “stiffer” than surrounding soft tissue and it is common practice that medical practitioners manually palpate the soft tissue of a patient by applying pressure with their fingers to identify the cancerous tissue.
However, the sense of touch is subjective and accurate identification of the extent of cancerous tissue using manual palpation is difficult. To provide mechanical contrast in tissue in a more repeatable, objective manner, imaging techniques have been developed, such as ultrasound elastography, optical coherence elastography and magnetic resonance elastography.
Despite the advent of these imaging techniques, medical practitioners still routinely resort to manual palpation in many clinical scenarios.